I am proud of my Son, a Dallas Immigration Attorney

      Comments Off on I am proud of my Son, a Dallas Immigration Attorney

Who will not be proud of his kid’s accomplishments? I am no different, here is the scoop.

JeffGhouseWhen he was 8, he asked me, “Dad, why do you work 7 days?” and my response was typical, “So that you can have a better life.”  He shot back at me, “Dad, if you can make it here with your accent, I can make it too; I don’t need your money, and will make twice (typical kid) more than you can. What I need is your time. ” That was rough! I swallowed it, and was proud of it.

Whatever drove him has given him unbelievable success. He is ambitious and makes probably 3 times more than I ever did, and I am happy for him.

He has consciously kept a balance between his work and family and I am simply proud of him. I adore the way he handles his two kids, he reasons with them and they fall in line! When I drive with them, my life restarts again with discussions on a variety of topics.

On his 18th birthday, he passed the state insurance and real estate exams, around 25, bought his own home and now bought another one to live and rent the other.

JeffGhouse.cardAt 31 he is part owner of the law firm Ansbach + Ghouse, PLLC in North Dallas.

This guy is an ultimate professional Immigration Attorney, once a while I visit him at the office and he is much disciplined, follows up with his clients and updates them, while making me sit around him. I love his success, it is all his, a self made man, but I feel the joy of it.

Jeff Ghouse is a go getter, ambitious, disciplined and results producer.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffghouse

I am Mike Ghouse, his proud father and am committed to pluralism and building a cohesive America.

God bless the refugees

      Comments Off on God bless the refugees

It is shameful to assume that refugees are at our mercy, that they are bad people, that they are beggars and that we can say anything uncouth about them.

God-bless-the-refugees
No one likes violence and neither the refugees. Most of them had a good life and the war has uprooted them, the dumb war they did not ask for. They are fighting for survival and not begging, they have nowhere to go but in to the sea or endure abuse from arrogant men and women. Have you ever been on the receiving end?

Had we not terrorized and mess up lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of this would hAmericans Together, Center for Pluralism, Religion News

ave happened. It is very humiliating to ‘ask’ for food and place to sleep. Please be kind to them, all of us are susceptible to it. Look what the people in WV are going through now; each one of us could be a refugee or go through down time in life.

We need to be gentle and kind to the ones in difficulty. May God bring dignity to each one of them! May God give us sense to respect their plight and get us to do something, at least send a few dollars to help them out.

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism

Pluralism Defined

      Comments Off on Pluralism Defined

WHAT IS PLURALISM?
“It is respecting the otherness of others”

We have crystallized the definition of pluralism to, “respecting the otherness of the others and accepting the uniqueness of each one of us”. Pluralism is nothing but an attitude of live and let live, and it is applicable in every aspect of life including culture, society, religion, politics, gender, food, ethnicity, race and other uniqueness’s.

By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together.

We need to prepare ourselves for those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.  If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you.

You are who you are, and I am who I am. As long as we don’t mess with each others space, sustenance and nurturance, and mind our own business, we all will do well.  If we can learn to respect the otherness of other and accept the God-given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.

Pluralism is not a set of rules, it is simply the attitude of live and let live religiously, politically, culturally and socially.  We are committed to building cohesive societies, where no human has to live in apprehension, discomfort or fear of a fellow being.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, Interfaith Wedding officiant, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine, motivation, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him (63 links) atwww.TheGhousediary.com

Suicide Bombers and the options available to them

      Comments Off on Suicide Bombers and the options available to them

The Koran strictly prohibits taking one’s own life, let alone taking the life of another human, only God gives life and God alone can take it back. So, the suicide Bombers are not motivated by Islam or religion, no matter how eager we are to blame a religion or how much they want to make idiots out us in their narrative.

Suicide-bombers-and-their-optionsIt is tempting to condemn the suicide bombers who take other persons’ lives, but that does not solve the problem, as a Pluralist I draw upon the wisdom from every faith tradition and Jesus is one of my mentors. He said, condemn the sin and not the sinner, and that applies here directly. If we condemn the suicide bomber we have no chance of redeeming him or others who are on the same path, on the other hand if we condemn his act, we have a chance of redeeming him and others.

What would make one a suicide bomber? If he has witnessed his family or neighborhood destroyed right in front of his eyes, he is automatically put in a vengeance mode. The only satisfaction he is pushed to have is – destruction of his perceived enemy. Since he does not have an F-16 to load megaton bombs and erase his enemy into the oblivion, he chooses to wrap the miniscule bombs around his chest to do the damage a few.

It is like a toddler, you prevent him from doing things, he goes berserk and throws things around, that is the only choice he has to take his frustration out. You mess with a weak person, the only choice he has is to spit on you, or bite and curse you.

When people lose their hope, a hope to live a normal life, a life where they can kick the soccer ball into a goal or take it away from the opponents kicking the goal, they have a source of satisfaction.  When a father feels safe that his daughter can go to school and come back home without being harassed, he lives in peace. When you get a big tip in a restaurant, you have a source of satisfaction

The suicide bomber is pushed to receive his only satisfaction in life by hurting you.  You have pushed him to be one, and like all humans, he or she makes attempts to justify his acts by blaming religion, and like a dumb ass, we are eager to buy that and also bark aimlessly at religion.

This madness and sadistic element on both sides has to stop; both sides are vying to do the maximum damage to the other.  If we are intelligent and smart beings, we need to look at their acts – what leads them to do it?

The responsibility to bring security, safety, peace and harmony falls squarely on the powerful. The power can be harnessed into understanding and bringing justice and security to both. I cannot be safe if people around me are not safe and it behooves me to build safer societies and not messing them up and live in more fear.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights,India, Israel-Palestine,motivation, and foreign policy. A community consultant, pluralist, social scientist, thinker, writer, activist, news maker and anInterfaith Wedding officiant . He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Most of the words are linked to his work, and please visit him at www.TheGhousediary.com andwww.MikeGhouse.net

How many Muslim Organizations?

      Comments Off on How many Muslim Organizations?

The one question that gets asked frequently is why so many organizations?  How are you different than others?

The simple answer is we have too many problems to deal with and we still don’t have enough organizations to deal with the multitude of issues. Each one of us is different and serving different needs of the communities, and without any doubt, there will always be some overlapping of work. I am pleased to put together a cartoon and a one liner about a few nationalistic Muslim organizations.

The following Cartoon depicts a gigantic pot of goodness, and to produce a mass amount of good stew requires massive contributions from individuals and organizations. The Muslims in America are blessed with such an invisible pot where each individual and organization pitches in to produce the good that benefits all American Muslims one way or the other.

Cartoon concept by Mike Ghouse drawn by Irfan.
AmericanMuslimOrganizations-pot-of-goodness

The imagery of pot of stew was inspired by my visit to one of the most revered Sufi Shrines located in Ajmeer, India. There is not a Hindu, Christian, Sikh or Muslim Indian political leader who does not visit this shrine for blessings. Even foreigners like President of Pakistan Pervaz Musharraf and PM Nawaz Shariff have paid homage to this place. Personally, I visited the place to understand the phenomena without subscribing to it, I am a denomination less Muslim without any sizzle or rituals to follow, but I am interested in people and see how I can contribute towards the well being of the society as pluralism runs through my veins.

Regardless of the religiosity of the place (un-Islamic to some), what is important is this historical place has contributed to the syncretic culture of co-existence of Muslims and Hindus of India, a great model even to answer our question about too many organizations.

There was a gigantic pot of Stew taller than humans with ladders around it for individuals and individuals in the name of organizations to climb up and pour Rice, Lentil, Veggies, fruits and other ingredients in it to cook that great food to feed every visitor. It is a community dish, of the community for the community by the community.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) urged humanity to compete in doing good deeds, and at the end there will be a lot of good to last for generations to come. Indeed, he said, what matters to God are your Good deeds, and that is caring for fellow humans. He defined a good deed is like planting a tree knowing full well that you will not be the beneficiary of its shade or fruit when the tree gets to that stage. We are the beneficiaries of what was done by the earlier generation and it is our duty to bequeath the same to the next.

The Muslims in America are blessed with such an invisible pot where each individual and organizations like AMI, ADAMS, ISNA, CAIR, ICNA, MPAC, MSA, ISPU, MYNA, EMERGE, MA, MLFA, MACCPAC, ING, WORDE, MCMF and a host of other organizations pour in their Rice, Lentils, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Green Peas, Coriander Leaves, Onion, Salt, Pepper, Cloves, Cardamom and other ingredients in terms of service to produce goodness to benefit fellow Americans.

I pray that all of us work together and beef up each other’s work with humility; we are all in this together to produce common good.

By the way, the moment I heard the Orlando News, I wrote that, more than likely this guy is not religious. Mosque going Muslims are not radicalized and understanding per the survey released by the Institute for social policy and understanding.

Here is an outline of a few national Muslim Organizations to represent all. The work on the table started a few months ago and now finalized, the input has come from many. I wish all organizations had responded.

May God guide us to cheer and build each other.

ORG STATEMENT WEBSITE
ADAMS ADAMS’ mission is to provide religious,  social, and educational services to  Muslim community https://www.adamscenter.org
AMI A proactive voice for American Muslims with Media, policy makers, interfaith and intrafaith groups www.AmericanMusliminstitution.org
CAIR CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. www.Cair.com 
EMERGE Politically empowers and trains Muslims to be engaged and active citizens. http://www.emerge-usa.org/
ICNA A leading grassroots organization in the American Muslim community with a focus on education and outreach. http://www.icna.org/
ING  Counters prejudice against American Muslims through education and interfaith dialogue. http://www.ing.org
ISNA To foster the development of the Muslim community, interfaith relations, and civic engagement http://www.isna.net/
ISPU ISPU conducts objective, solution-seeking research that empowers American Muslims www.ispu.org
MA A national legal advocacy and educational organization that works to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.  https://www.muslimadvocates.org
MACCPAC Promoting national security, freedom, human rights, justice and peace through coalition building with government agencies http://www.maccpac.org/
MLFA Funds legal work and programs to defend Muslims against injustice in American courtrooms, prisons, and communities. www.MLFA.org
MPAC Making Muslims part of the solution http://www.mpac.org/
MSA
MYNA Empowered youth with awakened minds, inspired hearts, and enlightened actions http://www.myna.org/
UPF To counter bigotry and create peace through the media. http://www.upf.tv/
WISE
WORDE WORDE supports the development of resilient communities through research, policy analysis, and programming. http://www.worde.org/
Dr. Mike Ghouse is currently the Executive Director of American Muslim Institution and Center for Pluralism. He is a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine, motivation, and foreign policy. A community consultant, pluralist, social scientist, thinker, writer, activist, and a news maker. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Most of the words are linked to his work, and please visit him at www.TheGhousediary.com and www.MikeGhouse.net 

Father’s day reflections

      Comments Off on Father’s day reflections

By Mike Ghouse
www.CenterforPluralism.com | The Ghouse Diary.com

HappyFathersday.AbdulRahman.MikeGhouseGratitude, repentance, and forgiveness are the most important elements in restoring one’s life and sustaining one’s tranquility and happiness.

On this father’s day, I will be dedicating half an hour to reflect on my father; M. Abdul Rahman.  He is one of my mentors, and an affectionate and caring father who opened many windows of knowledge for me. I will also spend moments reflecting and honoring Mr. Everett Blauvelt, my father figure who was instrumental in giving me a start in these United States.

An individual who expresses his gratitude to those who gave him a break in life, who were his or her role model, protector, defender and a cheer leader, will always lives a happier life.

My heart goes out to those who did not have a good relationship with their fathers. Despite their abusive fathers, they have survived, and they can give that affection to their off springs and others. Father’s day is a difficult day for them, while others are cherishing their fathers; they are struggling with mixed feelings to the feelings of hate. It’s not easy, and there is no quick fix to it, other than reflecting on it, and taking the responsibility to your own life. Life is given to each one of us as a trust, and at least we can live up to it.

If you are the one, I urge you to make a sincere effort in forgiving your father, it releases you from the pain, not forgiving them keeps you in eternal resentment and grief,  and takes away your moments of from your life. You can be a good parent to your kids or be a big brother or a friend to others and fulfill what is missing in your life.

If I am a pluralist today, and if I respect the otherness of others and have no prejudice towards others, it was my father’s teaching; living by example.   his stand on equality in thoughts, acts and talks makes a whole lot of sense.

If you are one of the parents who teach your children to look down on people other than your own kind, you are essentially running a sewer in their body system and messing them up for a life time. It would be difficult for them to live with people who are different than them.  You can save your child from misery, by learning to respect the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of his creation. You can look up www.CenterforPluralism.com for the courses and programs to open your heart and mind towards fellow beings.

My parents told us (me and my siblings) that we are all one family, from Adam and Eve and that we will have differences and have to learn to live with each other.  They often quoted the verse from Quran, to respect the otherness of others.

I miss them both today. I also appreciate my friends who are father figures to me – DD Maini, Bill Matthews and Dr. Harbans Lal.

Life is all about expressions and completing transactions. Every emotion, thought, action or a change creates a new debt or a favor that needs to be re-balanced. Obviously we cannot reciprocate the favors in full, but we have been able to do that with a thank you in the most simplistic way and that is good enough.

My father is my hero and opened the doors of wisdom to us. Pluralism indeed runs in my family. He taught one of the biggest lessons of my life in social cohesiveness and dealing with extremism that I continue to reflect in my talks, acts and write ups.

He treated all of us kids with dignity and I am pleased I got to be disciplined at least once in my life. I guess I replicated that with my children to the point my kids would actually say, Dad, you should have disciplined us. I did not see the need for it. I am fine and they are fine too. I gave them the cold shoulder that my father had given me to straighten me out, and it worked both ways, although my daughter was a tough cookie, she would not budge.

I was about ten years old and watched a man fall off his bicycle with his big bag of rice and was struggling to get back on it, and I wasn’t going to help him, instead I was laughing at him. I saw my father about 100 feet away and the way he sped towards me, which got me frightened for the first time, I dashed inside the home and a few minutes later after helping the guy,  he came in dashing… I climbed on top of the paddy bags in a corner of the house, I thought he could not get me there, so he goes outside and plucks a long branch off the mulberry tree and gives me a few good ones. “My son will never do that” after that conditioning, I have developed the habit of stopping for everyone who needs help. I dare not watch and not do something about it.

To those who have not had a father or had a negative experience, God has offered guidance through the instrument of forgiveness to release you from the pain. Just do it. I will be happy to be a big brother or even a father figure in the moment of your need. It’s an open offer to call me at (214) 325-1916, let’s keep it to 5 minutes.

God bless us all, Amen!

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, Interfaith Wedding officiant, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam,  politics,  terrorism,  human rights,  India,  Israel-Palestine,  motivation, and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. All  his writings are at: www.TheGhousediary.com 

Muslims Celebrate July 4th with their heart, mind and soul!

      Comments Off on Muslims Celebrate July 4th with their heart, mind and soul!

On July 4th, 2016 we will be celebrating the 240th birthday celebration of America, we have to take the time to reflect upon our fascinating journey from the immortal declaration of independence on July 4th, 1776 to July 4th, 2016.

Full Article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/july-4th-muslims-celebrate-july-4th-with-their-heart_us_5777c06de4b0ad1e7bfede95

The Model Mosque of America – Adams Center

      Comments Off on The Model Mosque of America – Adams Center

What do American Muslims want in a Mosque?

An overwhelming majority of American Muslims want an integrated community center where people of different faiths, races and ethnicities can come together and learn about each other to build a cohesive America, where no American has to live in apprehension or fear of the other.

What a joy it was to attend the Iftaar at Adams Center on June 26, 2016 in Sterling, Virginia.  I am writing this essay to make a point, and the point is, Adams Center is a dream come true Mosque for Muslims.  It is modeled after Prophet Muhammad’s first mosque, Masjid e Nabwi; a genuine community Center where Jews, Christians and others were invited for an interfaith Dialogue to learn about each other.

Continue at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-model-mosque-of-america-adams-center_us_57737840e4b0d24f8fb51952

Islam is not about governance

      Comments Off on Islam is not about governance

Islam is not about dictating subjugating and ruling others. It is about living your life and letting others live theirs. It is about building societies where justice, fairness, dignity, kindness and caring for all of God’s creation is the norm. I am committed to restore its pristine nature.

Islam-is-not-Governance-it-is-guidance-MikeGhouse

Mike Ghouse
www.MuslimSpeaker.com